Sir Tim has vehemently denied he was asleep during the meeting, saying he simply had not wanted to go over matters that had been raised at that moment.
The incident happened at the council project governance group meeting as elected members were discussing the council’s legacy report and whether it should be released in a public agenda.
The report is the council’s official response to a 2020 letter from the Department of Internal Affairs raising concerns about the council’s performance and leadership.
Sir Tim, who was at the meeting in person, while most councillors attended via Zoom, initially indicated he would oppose a motion from deputy mayor Nobby Clark for the council to receive the report as part of the public meeting agenda.
He later said that despite the report being a "celebrity roast of the mayor", it was appropriate it be made public because the council needed to be as transparent as possible.
After some discussion, acting chairman Jeff Grant, an external appointee, put the motion to release the report publicly to the vote.
During the vote Sir Tim said "no".
Mr Grant then explained to Sir Tim the item on the table was the motion to make the document public, which the mayor had just said he would support.
After receiving no answer and observing Sir Tim apparently with his eyes closed, Mr Grant tried to engage him again: "Sir Tim, are you against putting the legacy report into public? Sir Tim?"
Those in the room looked at the mayor and at each other.
"We would note then [that] Sir Tim has now chosen to not approve the report going into public. Is this correct Sir Tim?" Mr Grant asked.
There was silence.
"Thank you. So on that basis, the majority have supported the report going into public."
After the meeting he told the Otago Daily Times he had not been sleeping, but rather wanted to focus on other subjects which he considered important, such as the lack of support he felt.
He said the report did not tackle issues of the support available to him as mayor.
"Everyone says that I had it, but I say ‘no’. I just would like what any other mayor in New Zealand has."
"I think that I was wary of being ambushed there. Because every time that I raise the issues with the mayoral office I felt like I’m hitting a brick wall ... it is a lot of he said, she said," Sir Tim said.
He also said he did not like people attending meetings online.
"People seem to focus on delivery rather than content."
When asked if he believed he was doing a good job, he said he believed he was, considering the situation.
"It is very hard to operate with a feeling of trust when the council is suing you."
He also said all of that reinforced his decision to stand again at this year’s local body election.
Crs Graham Lewis and Nigel Skelt, who attended the meeting in person, said afterwards it was not appropriate to comment on the incident.
Crs Clark and Rebecca Amundsen, who attended via Zoom, said it was clear the mayor was "lost".
"I don’t think he understood what was happening and he just froze. I still don’t know if he was opposing the report being made public," Cr Clark said.
